Thank you very much for pointing this out. I would like to re-assure everyone that I would never dream of taking a story from here or indeed anywhere else on the web and using it for this project, without asking for permission first and fully explaining how it would be used. My use of the word 'mining' was perhaps unfortunate, as I certainly did not mean anything else other than Aikiweb seemed to be an appropriate place to search for stories.

Thank you for again for taking the time out to point this out.

Quentin

Quote:

Ellis Amdur wrote:

Quentin - one thing I (and maybe others) am still not clear on was a line in your initial post:

The way that reads is that you "decided" to simply glean stories that are on Aikiweb and put them in your work. And "mining" usually implies "digging up material out of the ground and making it your own." Hence primitive people, who regard the earth as a deity, liken mining to be a kind of rape. In many cultures, miners, in particular those who mine iron ore (which is red like mother-earth's blood), are an out-caste, seen as violating mother earth. People with beliefs such as these are often viewed as primitive, particularly by the colonialists who see such huge benefits for the world were that raw ore turned to better use.

Perhaps it was a mere omission on your part, but you did not mention proper rituals that a miner must follow, so that the primitive natives are not offended. LIke the ritual of copyright, which still applies even on a public forum. The question being, do you intend to mine, as you say, or are you going to request that people allow you to use their writing.

You may think this is obvious, but ask Stanley Pranin. HIs copyright material - films of Osensei and other teachers - were copied without "right" by many people and distributed because a) it was for the benefit of everyone that such films were distributed more widely b) why pay money when you can get it for free? And now with YouTube, I'm often surprised that he can still survive economically.

Not necessarily that you should pay contributors to your prospective work. Rather, it is rather jarring to read a statement from a representative of an organization that has a mission to bring the social dimension of "aiki" to a larger world and for that statement to so cavalierly ignore the sensibilities of the "aite" you are attempting to engage.